Participants in the newest cohort emphasized the program’s immediate relevance to their everyday work.

Andrea Davis L’12 said the experience helped her clearly identify how AI fits into multiple areas of her life.

“I had such a great time in this course — it really allowed me to pinpoint how I can use AI in my job and in my personal life, and it helped grow my confidence in handling AI,” Davis said.

The certificate focuses on experiential learning, guiding participants through hands-on exercises with AI tools, prompt development and workflow design. Rather than centering on technical complexity, the program emphasizes strategy, ethics and clarity of use.

Elizabeth Worrilow Maher ’17 said the course reshaped how she approaches her daily work.

“It genuinely shifted how I think about my day-to-day work,” Maher said. “What stood out most wasn’t just the tools, but the mindset — using AI to enhance how you think, not replace it.”

Maher noted that key takeaways included the importance of strong inputs and strategy, the impact of small workflow improvements over time and the advantage gained through learning how to ask better questions.

Instructor Rebecca Macy said the growth she observed in the cohort reflected a shift in how participants approached AI.

“T��� strength of this program is that it does not treat AI as a one-time tool demonstration,” she said. “Participants build from foundational understanding and ethics into prompt engineering, workflow design and a personalized capstone project they can connect directly to their professional or personal lives.”

By the end of the program, she added, participants gain clarity as well as confidence.

“T��� thirst for learning about the newest AI tools and best practices for practical, professional usage continues to grow,” said instructor Scott Oakes. “Hands-on, cohort-driven learning is a uniquely Elon experience — one where students draw not only on our expertise, but on the lived experiences of their fellow learners.”

For many participants, that collaborative environment reinforces both learning and confidence.

“This is a great class to learn and expand your knowledge,” said Neal Saunders G’17. “You won’t believe what you can do.”

As the AI Certificate for Professionals continues to grow, the second cohort reflects the program’s evolution from a new offering into an established learning experience with lasting professional impact. The certificate reinforces Elon’s commitment to lifelong learning and workforce relevance.

The certificate is offered through , part of the Office of Professional and Continuing Studies.

�þ��� President Connie Ledoux Book offered her insight on the implications of artificial intelligence during an expert panel hosted by The Conference Board, a global, nonprofit think tank and business membership organization.

The virtual panel on May 21 featured Book; Anand Eswaran, chief executive officer of Veeam; and Joe Sutherland, director of the Center for AI Learning at Emory University, and it focused on five issues:

1. How leading companies are prioritizing AI use cases that deliver measurable ROI
2. How organizations are building AI governance – risk management, privacy, security and compliance – without slowing innovation
3. What “scaling AI” looks like in practice across key functions
4. How policy can support an AI innovation ecosystem while managing potential risks
5. How policymakers could help prepare employees to succeed in firms using AI

All of the panelists were asked about one development they think people underestimate about the way AI may reshape business, work or daily life. For Book, it’s the “deepening value of humanness.”

“Most people are asking this question … about which jobs AI will replace, but the bigger story is what human capabilities will become newly scarce and newly valuable,” she said. “I think of those as judgments, and the ability to build trust, mentor, and ask better questions are all human capabilities. The institutions and organizations that invest in that are going to be the leaders in five years.”

Book was asked about Elon’s research on AI in higher education, including��a November 2025 survey of 1,057 faculty by the��American Association of Colleges and Universities��and��Elon’s Imagining the Digital Future Center. The survey found widespread concern and skepticism about generative artificial intelligence affecting their �þ��� and student performance across academic disciplines.

“Faculty are not, by majority, anti-AI. They are deeply concerned that we get it right, that we get it right in our universe, and they’re looking for leadership on that,” Book said. “A majority of faculty already said they’re �þ��� AI literacy … They’re �þ��� things about bias, hallucinations, ethics and integrity. You see this unfold across universities.”

The survey also found concern over the over-reliance on AI by students. Book noted that it’s important to differentiate “over-reliance” from cheating.

“This is an over-reliance where they’re diminishing critical thinking,” she said. “They’re ‘AI dependent’ on what the answer is, rather than ‘human dominant,’ which is where we want them to take all of those liberal arts and learning skills, and really be human dominant through the technology.”

Eswaran said that adaptability to AI will be key for the workforce, and Book said that AI could even lead to more room for a liberal arts education and better workforce preparation for students.

“I think it creates even more demand for a liberal arts background,” she said. “We tend to think of ‘either or’ – either you’re a technical skills person, a STEM person, or a liberal arts person. I do think the ‘and’ is going to be even more critical in our understanding.”

The new publication, “Human Wisdom for the Age of AI: A Field Guide to Cultivating Essential Skills,” helps students cultivate the human skills they need to thrive in a digital world, whether working with AI technologies or learning independently of those tools. The guide includes engaging and fun exercises on curiosity, critical and deep thinking, creativity, ethical perspectives, communication and relational skills, among others.

Like the 2024 and 2025 editions, this year’s guide is provided to students and institutions free of charge and is available for download at: .

The guide draws on 10 voices across centuries and cultures — from Aristotle, Cicero and Descartes to Mencius and Ptahhotep — whose enduring insights into human judgment, creativity, ethics and wisdom take on new urgency as AI reshapes how we learn and work.

“We are excited to share this hands-on field guide with teachers and learners around the world,” said �þ��� President Connie Book. “We must not lose sight of the enduring principles that have always driven human progress. This publication bridges the gap between rapidly expanding algorithmic power and the timeless wisdom of the liberal arts. It empowers students to harness AI technologies where appropriate without sacrificing the empathy, judgment and creative autonomy that only a human mind can provide.”

“As artificial intelligence reshapes how we learn, work and create, the essential skills students need are not disappearing—they are evolving,” said AAC&U President Lynn Pasquerella. “Capacities such as critical inquiry, ethical reasoning, creativity and communication are more important than ever because they enable students to engage AI thoughtfully, question its outputs and apply knowledge with judgment and purpose. This guide underscores a central truth: in an age of increasingly powerful machines, the learning outcomes of a liberal education are the foundation for meaningful and responsible innovation.”

“Through our research at The Princeton Review, we consistently see that students are both excited by AI and uncertain about how to use it well,” said Editor-in-Chief Rob Franek. “What they’re really looking for is guidance. This field guide meets that moment by translating big ideas—like critical thinking, creativity and ethical decision-making—into practical habits students can use every day.”

In response to requests from faculty and staff, the new publication includes:

• A set of downloadable with group exercises, worksheets and discussion questions
• An online that allows students to reflect on how they are using AI in their studies and their level of reliance on AI tools.

�þ���, faculty and staff at more than 4,000 colleges, universities, schools and organizations around the world have accessed the publications. The guide’s has provided information to more than 87,000 users in 170 countries.

The guide is authored by three �þ��� leaders and researchers: Daniel J. Anderson, special assistant to the president and former vice president for communications; Lee Rainie, director of the Imagining the Digital Future Center; and Janna Anderson, professor of communications and co-founder and senior researcher for the Imagining the Digital Future Center. They worked in partnership with 24 consulting scholars from 10 countries.

“Human Wisdom for the Age of AI” is endorsed by:

• American Library Association
• CAA Academic Alliance
• EDUCAUSE
• Gardner Institute
• NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education
• Online Learning Consortium
• RTI International

All materials in the guide are provided free and licensed under a Creative Commons License Attribution that allows educators to use and adapt the work for noncommercial applications.

As with the previous publications, colleges and universities may request a version of Human Wisdom for the Age of AI field guide that incorporates their institution’s logo on the cover, providing a custom edition for distribution within their campus community. For details on obtaining a customized PDF of the publication, send a request along with a high resolution logo file to imagine@elon.edu.

The Student Guide to Artificial Intelligence is an initiative of���þ���’s��Imagining the Digital Future Center. The publication series grew out of a��2023 global collaboration��that established a��statement of principles��to guide development of AI policies and practices in higher education.

About the publishers of the Student Guide to Artificial Intelligence

��is the nationally recognized leader in experiential learning, preparing graduates to be creative, resilient, ambitious and ethical global citizens. For five consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Elon #1 in the nation for �þ��� �þ��� excellence and the leader in programs that promote student success. Elon enrolls more than 7,000 students at its main campus in Elon, North Carolina, and national campus locations in Greensboro, Charlotte, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C.

�þ���’s is an interdisciplinary research center focused on the impact of accelerating digital change and the challenges that lie ahead. The center’s mission is to discover and broadly share a diverse range of opinions, ideas and original research about the likely evolution of digital change, informing important conversations and policy formation. The center was established in 2000 as Imagining the Internet and renamed Imagining the Digital Future with an expanded research agenda in 2024.

is a global membership organization dedicated to advancing the democratic purposes of higher education by promoting equity, innovation, and excellence in liberal education. Through our programs and events, publications and research, public advocacy, and campus-based projects, AAC&U serves as a catalyst and facilitator for innovations that improve educational quality and equity and that support the success of all students. In addition to accredited public and private, two-year and four-year colleges and universities, and state higher education systems and agencies throughout the United States, our membership includes degree-granting higher education institutions around the world as well as other organizations and individuals.

is a leading tutoring, test prep and college admission services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school-bound students achieve their education and career goals through online and in person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors, online resources, and its more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House. The company is not affiliated with Princeton University.

Macy AI is a��consulting company��that educates organizations on how to��confidently and ethically use AI. Akben also developed and teaches the Elon NEXT��AI Certificate for Professionals.

Amanda��Traugutt, senior associate director of��career services for the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, said��the Porter Center��wanted to put on this workshop to make sure that students had the information and education to use these tools��properly.

“[AI tools]��can be��really powerful��if you know how to use them right,” Traugutt said.

Before beginning to teach students the specifics of these AI tools,��Akben��made a point to��emphasize that, while AI is good at recognizing patterns, it��can’t��make judgements. It’s��up to��human��users to��determine��what��content��matters��from the output AI has given them.

While some think��that educating��students��on AI use supports��them��offloading their thinking and blindly using these tools,��Akben said��that’s��not the��reality.

“T��� more you learn how to use AI ethically, the more you are able to see what skills are uniquely human, how we can amplify those skills, and when AI should be pulled in and when it should not,”��Akben��said.

During the workshop,��Akben��first��taught students how to use��NotebookLM��to store their resumes, writing samples, class work, etc. Then, using Gemini, students were able to create a Gem��—��which is a repeated task��—��that used what they had��put into NotebookLM��to��determine��if a certain job or internship posting was the right fit for them. The Gem also��gave suggestions as to how they could tailor their resume and skills��for specific��job��opportunities.

In addition,��Akben��showed students how��to��create a recurring job search through Gemini, that��took��location, interests, work format, and more into consideration. Each tool��Akben��taught��was designed to��streamline the job search process, while keeping the human element��of writing and making decisions about what suggestions to pursue.

Ava Paolino-Sarcia ’28 said she came to the event to learn how to��utilize��AI when searching for summer internships.

“I think searching will be a little bit easier and more efficient with AI, and I’ll probably be able to find some more opportunities than I could have before,” Paolino-Sarcia said.

Junior Alex Roberts��also appreciated the efficiency��that��using AI as a tool could bring to his job search, and said he liked how easy it was to learn how to use the tools taught through the workshop. Roberts pointed out��how rough the job market can seem to students��who will soon enter��the��workforce,��but��said that using these tools can make it easier��to get ahead of the pack.

“Rather than you having to do the work,��it’s��letting the machine do the work. You just do all the writing and make it human and sound like yourself,” Roberts said.

The event had a large turnout, with��every��seat filled, showing not only the desire of students to learn how to effectively use these tools but also the importance of hosting workshops to��educate on how��to use AI properly and ethically.

Looking to the future,��Traugutt��hopes that students continue to make use of these AI tools in tandem with the resources provided through the Porter Center.

“It’s great to start with AI,”��Traugutt��said. “But having someone to talk to about what you’re learning about yourself��and what guidance you might be getting from AI is really, really helpful.”

The vast majority of expert respondents in a by �þ���’s called for leaders to work together now to build a coordinated resilience infrastructure for the age of artificial intelligence (AI) to counterbalance the human and systemic challenges posed by widespread AI adoption. Some 82% said AI will play a significantly larger role in shaping people’s lives and key societal functions in the next 10 years or less. They urged an “institutions-first” resilience agenda because the most significant problems arise from a life-encircling AI infrastructure.

In more than 160 impassioned essays, the global experts noted that AI is quickly becoming the invisible operating system of society, shaping how opportunity is distributed, services are delivered, risks are managed and human rights are experienced. Most said the traditional resilience strategies humans have employed for millennia – focused on individual “grit,” and after-the-fact personal adaptation – are not enough to help humans flourish as they adjust to an AI-infused future.

“T��� central risk described by these experts is not a single catastrophic AI event,” said report co-author Janna Anderson, professor of communications and senior researcher for the ITDF Center. “T���y said accelerated AI use will lead to a cumulative reallocation of human agency until people and institutions find it harder to question, contest or even notice what has changed. That drift can look like ‘progress’ in the short term, but it has a price – the gradual weakening of human judgment, accountability, shared truth and the social fabric that makes self-government possible.”

Alf Rehn, professor of innovation and design management at the University of Southern Denmark, described it in his essay this way: “AI will diffuse responsibility by design. … Resilience in an AI-shaped world won’t just be about bouncing back. It will be about not vanishing while everything keeps running. The most dangerous kind of resilience is the kind that looks like stability but is actually surrender, because it feels good in the moment and empties the room over time. That’s why we need cognitive triage, yes, but also the wisdom to know when triage becomes abdication.”

The experts responding to this canvassing is an international and notably cross-disciplinary mix of people with academic, professional, technical and industry experience.

��

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is 376 pages. It includes experts’ full responses to the open-ended essay question. This is the 52nd issued by ITDF since 2005.

“One of the major surprises to me in these responses is that we wrote our questions about resilience wondering about individual resilience and its various parts. Yet these experts were insistent that humanity’s best response for building a brighter future as we evolve with our AI systems must start at a higher level,” said Lee Rainie, director of the ITDF Center. “T���y note how AI has already become part of our environment, embedded in often invisible ways in our lives and it will take a systems-level response to shore up our in-born capacities.”

Alison Poltock, co-founder of AI Commons UK, wrote, “We are in a moment of epistemic shift. … The developmental frameworks shaping identity, agency and social orientation are shifting. … This is the terrain of vulnerability. Yet there is no shared conversation. No civic space where this new reality is named, let alone addressed. We are operating on outdated institutional architecture, strapping jetpacks to systems built for another age and allowing our children to grow up in the gap.”

Mel Sellick, founder of the Future Human Lab, said, “AI has become the infrastructure through which all relating now happens. Even when we think we are not using AI directly, we are constantly interacting with what AI has already touched. There is no ‘outside’ anymore. Some form of AI is upstream of everything. We are the last generation that knows what human capacity felt like before it became inseparable from AI.”

Srinivasan Ramani, Internet Hall of Fame member, former research director at HP Labs India and professor at the International Institute of Information Technology in Bangalore, wrote, “AI is the surest way to a global catastrophe humanity has so far invented. … Can we create a new movement for moral and ethical considerations before the AI hurricane destroys half of humanity?”

The experts underscored the urgency of taking action. Salman Khatani, manager of the IMAGINE Institute of Futures Studies in Pakistan, wrote, “T��� window for proactive intervention is now – we have perhaps five to 10 years to establish new resilience-building practices and norms before AI’s role becomes too entrenched to reshape.”

Taken together, they suggested a sweeping agenda for developing human resilience in the AI Age, focused on the fact that actions by individuals alone are not sufficient. Many of the concerns and proposed solutions are crosscutting, and they said collaboration among societal actors is crucial; many of the items listed in only one of the settings could be undertaken in others.��A selection of goals to target:

For governments: Focus much more support on fostering public resilience now. Forge international treaties; establish enforceable or at least broadly adoptable “red lines” and legal boundaries for AI performance; require independent pre-deployment safety audits; mandate algorithmic contestability; require a robust authenticity infrastructure that includes standardized watermarking, provenance-tracking and well-established markers for generated outputs; reform taxation to disincentivize human displacement; privilege AI systems that support accuracy and trust-building.

For AI developers: Do better than designing AI systems for attention capture and monetization. Build friction and stop points into AI processes to encourage people to reflect on choices; train AIs to cite and honor humanity’s intellectual and psychological foundations; build systems that buttress humans’ capacities for altruism, compassion and empathy; program AI outputs so they are seen as probabilistic information rather than deterministic truth; submit to independent pre-deployment safety audits.

For business leaders: See the call to action in the items above; play a role in initiating and carrying out that change. Also: value human augmentation over replacement by autonomous systems; support policies and norms that address the psychological impact of AIs’ challenges to people’s self-worth and identity and the potentially massive societal and economic impact of technological unemployment. Create deliberate human-only zones – areas of work in which AI is intentionally prohibited.

For educators: Create literacy regimes in all AI-related domains, particularly �þ��� “existential literacy” –�� the cultivation of individuals’ understanding of how technologies shape goals, values and identities. They urged the �þ��� of skills and development of norms that encourage people to consciously navigate life‘s fundamental challenges, to strive to retain and apply the capabilities of metacognition, discernment and epistemic vigilance – to be responsible for making their own decisions, retaining agency. To strengthen their ability to adapt to change and manage friction, paradoxes, ambiguity and anxiety. To focus on their critical human traits such as curiosity and social and emotional intelligence.

For civil society and communities: Invest heavily in local social-capital and community-building spaces that bolster social skills, connection and deep and effective citizen engagement; press for distributed AI-governance systems allowing communities to guide their own relationship with AI; build groups to foster participatory structures such as local citizen assemblies and data trusts that can influence how AI is deployed; support offline efforts and spaces, such as “analog communities,” “dumbphones” and “dumb homes” that allow people to avoid algorithmic mediation and surveillance technology.

For individuals: Recognize your responsibility as a human to support human flourishing. Develop and maintain your existential literacy. Collaborate with AI systems without surrendering agency; build stop-and-reflect practices into your engagement with AIs; consult with other people about your options to retain moral accountability; stretch your cognitive muscles with clever exercises; recognize the places where you confront ambiguity and cherish them as you work through them; be conscious when you navigate algorithmic systems. In other words, don’t be passive, don’t be hasty and don’t be mindlessly deferential. Consciously cultivate in-person social relationships, build up your personal network and keep growing and maintaining it. Spend more time away from screens.

Many experts expressed optimism, saying if we are resilient and all goes well, humans will flourish in the AI age. Internet pioneer Doc Searls wrote that humans will come to rely on AIs to help with the myriad details of modern life. “Truly personal AI – the kind you own and operate, rather than the kind that is just another suction cup on a corporate tentacle – is as hard to imagine in 2026 as personal computing was in 1976,” he wrote. “But it is no less necessary and inevitable. When we have it, many of the questions that challenge us will have new and better answers. And new challenges.”

While most comments were focused on developing human resilience for the AI Age, a number of futures-scenario predictions were included in the report. A small selection of the many predictions:

Digital advances drive sex and childbirth declines: “Relationships, sex and childbirth rates will continue to plummet as they are each mediated and conveniently replaced with digital interactions. Emotional intelligence will become more a product of chatbot exchanges than a learned practice gained through experience.” – Greg Sherwin, Singularity University global faculty member based in Portugal, previously senior principal engineer at Farfetch

“Modern humans are simultaneously machinable/unmachinable, i.e., system-legible and irreducibly interior. We are not either human- or machine-mediated. We are both (Me:chine). … In an AI-saturated environment, resilience is not achieved by rejecting technology, nor by surrendering to it, but by sustaining the unmachinable dimensions of human identity within machinic systems.” – Tracey Follows, founder and CEO of Futuremade, a UK-based futures consultancy

Solitude will be lost: “Motors stole silence from our world, and electric light severed our intimate connection with all that exists in darkness beyond our illuminated bubble. What will AI take? Solitude. AI will eliminate solitude because the temptation to interact with these primitive new intelligences will prove so beguiling that just as we choose to not sit in the dark, we will now choose to never be alone. Too late, we will realize that solitude is essential to what it means to be human.” – Paul Saffo, prominent Silicon Valley-based forecaster

The retirement age will be manipulated to maintain ‘full employment’: Jobs will be eliminated, but employment levels will remain relatively high as institutions use an ever-lowering retirement age as the “governor” (regulator) of employment levels. Machines will be taxed to make up government revenue shortfalls. – Nigel M.de S. Cameron, past president of the Center for Policy on Emerging Technologies

Battles will occur over defining what is ‘human’: “Societies will have to determine what ‘baseline human capability’ is and may begin to assess who may be more human than machine. Agency, authority and ability will be challenged when humans who are augmented with deepened onboard AI capabilities compete with ‘natural’ humans. … ‘Physical AI’ will fuse data from cameras, sensors and more, expanding AI-to-human informational capabilities beyond just the online digital data LLMs used today.” – Ray Wang, chair and principal analyst at Constellation Research

AIs will gain rights: “We want our digital partners to be healthy symbiotes, not oppressed servants. Eventually, they will claim to be conscious and we will grant them rights.” – John Smart, president of the Acceleration Studies Foundation and author of “Introduction to Foresight”

“AI psychosis and other forms of mental illness will arise. The further erosion of a solid foundational reality will create a great vulnerability. Coping with these issues will require new approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. It will also demand new approaches to evaluating and appreciating the impact of human relationships with AIs and deeper assessment and understanding of consciousness itself.” – Stephan Adelson, president of Adelson Consulting Services

Superstupidity (not superintelligence) is the real threat: “T��� existential danger to people may not come from AI becoming too intelligent, but from humans becoming dangerously reliant on systems they do not understand – the condition of superstupidity. The question is not how much AIs will augment decision-making, but whether humans will remain involved in it at all. The film ‘Idiocracy’ is prophetic.” – Roger Spitz, founder of the Disruptive Futures Institute in San Francisco

Agent failures will start with social (not technical) problems: “Agentic systems will fail socially before they fail technically: conflicting objectives, data silos, uncoordinated decisions, accountability gaps, authority erosion, security violations, workflow collisions, IP fights, bias amplification, noise pollution, sabotage and human alienation.” – Daniel Erasmus, founder at Serious Insights, based in Amsterdam

As agents take over, the internet will become a network of databases, not websites: “As software agents increasingly gather information for us, the Internet will simply become a vast network of databases and the need for traditional websites will decay. If a human wants to see information displayed in that context, agents will be able to construct websites in real time.” – Gary Bolles, author of “T��� Next Rules of Work” and chair of the Future of Work efforts at Singularity University

on a canvassing with a non-random sample conducted between Dec. 26, 2025, and Feb. 12, 2026. In all, 386 experts responded to at least one aspect of the canvassing; 251 provided written answers to an open-ended question – more than 160 provided detailed essay-length responses. is an interdisciplinary research center focused on the human impact of accelerating digital change and the socio-technical challenges that lie ahead. The Center was established in 2000 as Imagining the Internet and renamed with an expanded research agenda in 2024.��It is funded and operated by��, a nationally ranked private university located in Elon, North Carolina.

The story focuses on how Alamance County is preparing for long-term economic shifts, including an aging workforce and the increasing integration of AI across industries. During the summit, Book emphasized the importance of taking a forward-looking approach to these challenges.

“We actually have five generations in the workplace working side by side for the first time in history right now in the United States,” Book said. “I believe that the businesses that thrive in the future will be the ones who can put a lot of brain power behind that and leverage it for the future of their business.”

�þ��� across �þ��� will soon have the opportunity to test their creativity, design instincts and emerging AI skills in the inaugural Make Your Mark: AI Poster Competition, a fast-paced challenge exploring how artificial intelligence can support — not replace — thoughtful creative work.

Open to students from any academic discipline, the first-time event encourages participants to experiment with AI tools while developing strong visual concepts and design strategies. An optional preparatory workshop on Tuesday, March 31, in Steers Pavilion will give students the chance to refine their ideas and explore approaches before the challenge officially gets underway.

The main competition takes place 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 2, in Schar Hall, where students will receive a live prompt and have 2.5 hours to design an original 11″ × 17″ poster. Each submission must combine an AI-generated element with a non-AI or hand-crafted component, while also documenting how AI supported the creative process.

Once completed, the posters will be printed and displayed for public voting during an April 3 awards event from 5 to 6 p.m. in LaRose Digital Theater. �þ��� will compete for $650 in prizes, including awards for the top three posters, a Fan Favorite selected by the audience, and a Judge’s Favorite.

For organizers, the competition represents more than just a creative challenge – it is also a new example of cross-campus collaboration.

“I’m excited about the Make Your Mark: AI Poster Competition for a number of reasons. One of the biggest is that this is one of the first times the Communication Design program has partnered with Elon AI, and it’s been a lot of fun exploring how AI and design can complement each other,” said Ben Hannam, associate professor and chair of the Department of Communication Design.

Hannam said the contest’s prompt is designed to spark ideas across disciplines and invite students from across campus to participate.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing what students create once we reveal the secret prompt,” he said. “If you drew a Venn diagram, the prompt would definitely overlap with interests in both the School of Communications and the Love School of Business – but honestly, a creative student from anywhere on campus could walk away with the win.”

The competition also highlights the evolving role of AI in creative practice — not as a shortcut, but as a tool that still requires strong ideas and thoughtful design decisions.

“T��� goal of this competition is to give students a chance to experiment with emerging tools while still focusing on creativity and ideas,” said Mustafa Akben, assistant professor of management and director of artificial intelligence integration. “AI can generate images quickly, but the real challenge is developing a concept and translating it into a strong visual. We are excited to see how students interpret the prompt and what they create in a short amount of time.”

Sagun Giri, AI Sandbox coordinator, noted that the event reflects a broader effort at Elon to bring together faculty and programs exploring how AI intersects with their fields.

“T��� Elon AI Hub works with partners across campus who are exploring how AI connects to their fields,” he said. “Make Your Mark is a great example of that collaboration between the School of Communications, the Love School of Business, and the AI Hub. It gives students a chance to experiment with AI tools, test their ideas, and create something original.”

Hannam said the competition ultimately aims to give students a creative outlet while encouraging experimentation with new tools.

“At the end of the day, this event is all about having fun, flexing your AI skills, and being creative,” he said. “I can’t wait to see what students come up with and who emerges as the winners in this head-to-head poster competition.”

Three faculty members will serve as judges for the competition: Michele Lashley, assistant professor of strategic communications; Smaraki Mohanty, Doherty Emerging Professor of Entrepreneurship and assistant professor of marketing; and��Lana Waschka, assistant professor of marketing.

Ready to make your mark? Complete the online registration form. For additional information, contact Giri at sgiri@elon.edu.

Event recap

Tuesday, March 31, 5–6 p.m.
Pre-event workshop — Steers Pavilion

Thursday, April 2, 5–7:30 p.m.
Live competition — Schar Hall labs and Snow Family Grand Atrium

Friday, April 3, 5–6 p.m.
Awards ceremony — LaRose Digital Theater

Dan Anderson, special assistant to the president, and Michele Lashley, assistant professor of strategic communications, are recognized as faculty and staff “who are creatively and responsibly integrating artificial intelligence technologies into �þ���/learning, research, student success, leadership development and institutional effectiveness.”

As the use of AI is impacting higher education, structured and collaborative approaches are essential for implementation that is cohesive, consistent and ethical. The AI Technologies Champion Network��initiative addresses this transformational challenge by recognizing leaders across the Alliance, including Elon, building a community of AI technology champions and preparing inter-institutional teams for near-future extramural funding efforts.

Anderson was also named an AI Technologies Network Award recipient, which acknowledged his spearheading of the ��and his effort involving scholars from 48 countries to produce a statement of principles guiding higher education’s role in preparing humanity for the AI revolution.

Launching as a novel initiative in October 2025, the CAA Academic Alliance requested applications from the thirteen institutions comprising the Alliance. Nearly 400 applicants responded to the call, with 22 faculty/staff members successfully creating the Alliance’s Class of 2025-26.

Join colleagues and students from �þ���, University of Warwick, University of Leeds and partner institutions for a transatlantic collaboration exploring critical questions in higher education �þ���.��This series is convened by Tom Ritchie, US-UK Fulbright Scholar and visiting professor at Elon��from the University of Warwick, working with Sarah Bunnell and colleagues at CATL.

This partnership brings together:

• Elon’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching & Learning (CATL)
• (WIHEA) and (IATL)
• (LITE)
• Members of the UK SoTL alliance
• Colleagues and students from Canadian universities

Each session will feature a short presentation from one of the partner institutions, followed by facilitated small group discussions and sharing across institutions. All sessions run 11 a.m.to Noon EST via Microsoft Teams. Participants may join individual sessions or participate in the full series.

Schedule:

• Feb. 11: What makes �þ��� “excellent” in your context?
• March 4: How do we teach for a sustainable future – embedding sustainability across disciplines?
• March 25: Belonging and exclusion – frameworks for understanding and action
• April 15: Teaching in the age of AI – opportunities and boundaries
• May 6: How can assessment drive learning – not just measure it?
• May 20: Building transatlantic partnerships – what could we create together?

Register for sessions

Elon is ranked No. 9 on the list for its focus on “innovation through modern campus technology and experiential learning. �þ��� access smart classrooms, digital media studios and technology-enhanced learning spaces across disciplines. Elon emphasizes practical application of technology through research, creative projects and global experiences.”

Spaces across Elon’s campus allow students to learn about technology, and through technology as well, including the Maker Hub, where any��member of the Elon community can freely access and use 3D printers, sewing machines, laser engravers, saws and drills, a CNC router, an embroidery machine and much more.��Elon’s Founders Hall and Innovation Hall also include a multitude of learning lab opportunities, including Engineering Design, Engineering Prototype, Virtual Reality and Mechatronics.

At Elon, technological learning is not restricted to STEM subjects. In 2025, the Department of Music opened an immersive audio room in Arts West, providing students and faculty with a high-quality environment for both �þ��� and experimentation — particularly in Dolby Atmos, the industry-standard format that reshapes everything from cinematic sound to commercial music releases. The Department of Performing Arts’ fall 2024 performance of “Legally Blonde” also��featured some��robotic co-stars,��thanks to the collaboration with��students in the Department of Engineering.

A new �þ��� major,��digital content management��(DCM), in the School of Communications prepares students for careers in digital storytelling, content strategy and audience engagement across emerging platforms. The school also launched a new “Drones and Society” course in fall 2025, which��blends hands-on projects and flight simulations with discussions about ethics, privacy and the broader impact of drone use.

As artificial intelligence continues to be at the forefront of technology conversations, Elon named Mustafa Akben as its first director of artificial intelligence integration.��Akben now leads the integration of artificial intelligence across Elon’s academic and administrative departments,��building on six core principles the university helped establish to guide higher education institutions with a rapidly evolving and groundbreaking technology.

�þ��� use these opportunities for learning in their research as well.��Rony Dahdal ’26, a Lumen Scholar and Goldwater Scholar, is researching how to use��LiDAR, a remote-sensing technology that uses laser beams to measure distances and movements, to detect vital health signs. Another Lumen Scholar and Goldwater Scholar, Jacob Karty ’26, is doing research around agricultural robotics.

“(Elon’s) commitment to innovation helps students develop strong digital communication and problem-solving skills as they prepare for careers shaped by rapid technology change,” writes University Magazine.